• 
• 
• 
• 

[Above: Gregorio Aglipay, a leader in the Filipino independence movement—Judgefloro / [universal public domain dedication] Wikimedia.]

AS THE NINETEENTH CENTURY CLOSED, the relationship between Spain and the Filipino population was strained. The population’s relationship with the Catholic Church was also strained because the church had often abused its trust. As a result, many Filipinos desired a national clergy and national ownership of their church buildings. A number of Filipino churchmen sided with the revolution that broke out against Spanish rule in 1896.

Among them was Gregorio Aglipay. Because he had been arrested as a fourteen-year-old for failing to meet the quota of a Spanish tobacco grower, he harbored deep resentment against the Spanish. After that humiliating event he studied at several institutions of higher learning and was ordained a priest in 1889. He assisted in several parishes and joined the revolution in 1898.

In the December 1898 peace treaty that followed the Spanish-American War, Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States. Filipinos were not happy to exchange Spanish rule for U.S. rule and General Emilio Aguinaldo led resistance to U.S. occupation. He appointed Aglipay to coordinate the resistance efforts of the Filipino clergy. The U.S. soon put down the resistance.

At first the Filipinos hoped that the pope would ordain Filipino bishops and place the island churches under their control, but the pope refused. Consequently, on this day, 3 August 1902,Filipinos declared their churches independent, founding the Iglesia Filipina Independiente. Gregorio Aglipay became their first bishop; consequently the denomination is sometimes called the Aglipayan Church. The Aglipayans largely retained Catholic forms. At the outset, the majority of Filipinos seemed ready to go along with the break. 

But that soon changed. Unfortunately for the Iglesia Filipina, the nation’s courts ruled that local buildings, although funded and built by Filipinos, remained the property of the Roman Catholic church. The independent church also lacked a comprehensive, unified, and orthodox liturgy; its Ofocio Divino, drafted by  Isobelo de los Reyes, Sr., embraced Unitarianism. Protestant missionaries arriving from the United States furthered weakened the independent church by drawing off many potential followers. Soon the Aglipayan Church lost much of its following. 

Eventually the Iglesia Filipina returned to orthodoxy and entered into a cooperative relationship with the Episcopal Church which ordained Filipino bishops and trained priests at its seminary. It also developed an English language liturgy and its own Book of Common Prayer with the understanding it would gradually be adapted into local languages.

—Dan Graves

----- ----- -----

For the United State's role in the Philippines, see "A Nation on a Mission" from Christian History #99 Faith & the American Presidency